Ann Arbor, Music Town

Fleming Artists sits quietly in a squat, blue building at the edge of a residential neighborhood on North Main Street in Ann Arbor. There's nothing about the place that screams "big-time talent agency," nothing that would tip you off to the caliber of artists and performers represented by the nine people who work there.

Like founder Jim Fleming himself, Fleming Artists puts substance before style. Do right by the artists, do right by the promoters and the image thing takes care of itself.

Fleming Artists represents just over 50 musicians and performers ranging from Ani DiFranco and Toad the Wet Sprocket to actor/singer/songwriter Jeff Daniels. The agency is best known for its folk acts, (including 2008 Grammy nominee Tom Paxton) but Fleming has encouraged the next generation - president Adam Bauer and vice president Susie Giang - to expand into other genres. Giang recently landed the dance rock group My Dear Disco.

"The one common denominator with all of our artists is they're excellent at what they do," Fleming said. "We're in the live performance business. It's important that they not only produce great music, but that they know how to present it."

The agency holds up its end of the deal, booking 2,500-3,000 shows a year, all over the world. Being in Ann Arbor makes for few distractions and lets Fleming and his staff get down to the work of booking shows.

"I've got an excellent staff here, and once (artists) overcame the psychological hurdle of, 'You're not in L.A. You're not in Nashville,' they saw it from the pragmatic standpoint. What they wanted to do is work," Fleming said. "As long as we take care of our clients – both the artists and the promoters – where we are becomes less and less of a factor. And I think that's going to be the model for the future."

In the mid 1970s, Fleming and a group of friends established the Black Sheep Repertory Theater in Manchester, Michigan. The company came up with all kinds of ways to pay the bills. They did road shows, Cole Porter revues, Gershwin revues, traveling children's theater. On off-nights and weekends the theater hosted other acts from out of town.

Fleming, the theater's business manager, suggested they bring the Second City comedy troupe to tiny Manchester. Despite widespread doubts that the little theater could rise to the challenge, the Black Sheep sold out three days of Second City shows and had to add three more.

At the time Second City didn't perform much outside of Chicago. Fleming offered to line up some more work for the troupe, and Second City producer Joyce Sloane said, "Go for it."

So began Fleming Artists. Second City became a core client as Fleming and former partner David Tamulevich helped the troupe develop into a national touring company over the next 20 years. After an amicable parting of the ways in the late 1990s, Second City returned to Fleming Artists' roster last year. In the meantime, Fleming and his associates continued building relationships with artists and promoters, developing a reputation for quality and entertainment value.

"I've always had a theory, and I believe they have the same one, that the relationship (between agents and promoters) is not necessarily adversarial," said Dave Siglin, former program director at The Ark, which books several artists on the Fleming roster. "You work with each other. There are agencies out there that are adversarial. Some agencies are out for the biggest contract they can get, and they don’t care if the concert succeeds or fails.

"In general the attitude at Fleming is they want to make sure everything succeeds. They'd rather take a couple hundred dollars less and make sure everyone does well and then bring their artist back."

Fleming Artists also lines up all the acts for The Ark's long-running Take a chance Tuesdays, a monthly show that puts new artists – not necessarily artists represented by Fleming - in front of crowds of 100-400 people who wouldn't see them otherwise. Careers get launched, people get to see new acts, and Food Gatherers, Ann Arbor's food rescue organization, gets the cans of food that are the price of admission.

"I trust their judgement on who they sign," said Anya Siglin, The Ark's current program director. "I’m always going to take a chance and book who they book. There are a few of their newer bands that wouldn’t work at the Ark, but we’ll always help each other out."

Fleming Artists represents performers from the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom and has a second office in Melbourne, Australia. The agency gets some 400 unsolicited inquiries from artists looking for representation, and signs maybe four a year at the most.

"When Fleming said, 'I want to sign you. I think we can take this on the road,' that was a stamp of validation," Daniels said. "He's very selective. Some of the people you know - like Ani DiFranco - and some you don't, but once he says he's with you the whole team is behind you."

Though Daniels had been performing most of his life, Fleming's support helped him get over the hurdle of not being known for his music. Working with Fleming put him in the company of artists like Kelly Jo Phelps and Willie Porter. That gave him the confidence to walk out onto stages from Boston to Houston and not feel like just another actor who decided to pick up a guitar.

"As soon as he signed me I wanted to get better to justify his decision," Daniels said.

Tyler Duncan of My Dear Disco echoed that sense of obligation to make good on the agency's leap of faith.

"It took a lot of faith on their part to believe we'd someday be worth it," Duncan said. "We're trying to earn our keep."

Fleming also believes in Ann Arbor's potential as a music city. He envisions a music scene that’s part Nashville’s Music Row and part Austin’s South By Southwest music festival.

"I think it could be good for the city and produce a significant amount of revenue." he said, noting that the music portion of south by Southwest pumps $100 million into its host city. "You just have to draw more artists, so when artists come here they know they have other artists to interact with. So they know where to go when they need a good bassist, need a good drummer, affordable housing, health insurance, affordable places for people to work out of. You have to have the support services. It means investment of materials and time and money, but it's something I think will pay off."

The core, he insists, is already there.


He points to the community of artists and musical expertise already in town, to the major international airport half an hour away, to venues like The Ark, whose significance in the music industry is sometimes lost on the people who walk past it every day.

"I think if you live next to a mountain or an ocean for a while, you begin to take that for granted, too," Fleming said. "I think that way about this whole city. There is a cultural life that happens here that doesn't happen in cities sometimes ten times the size."

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Amy Whitesall  is a Chelsea-based freelance writer. Her work has appeared in The Ann Arbor News, The Detroit News and Seattle Times. She is a regular contributor to metromode and Concentrate. Her previous Concentrate article was The New News.

All Photos by Dave Lewinski

Photos:

Jeff Daniels Does What Michiganders Do Best By Throwing Up The Mitt-Ann Arbor

Jim Fleming-Founder of Fleming Artists

Jim Fleming And Jeff Daniels Kick Back and Chat with A View of Main Street Ann Arbor-Fleming Artist Office

Tyler Duncan of My Dear Disco-Ann Arbor

The Hard Lessons Live-Photo Courtesy of Fleming Artists

The Folk Singing Side of Jeff Daniels-Ann Arbor

Jim Fleming Checks Out the Gossip at the Water Cooler with My Dear Disco and Vice President Susie Giang-Ann Arbor

Dave Lewinski is Concentrate's Managing Photographer.  He could not tell Jeff Daniels this in person, but he is a HUGE Aracnaphobia fan.  He also digs all of Fleming's artist lineup.